675 legal professionals attended the Australasian Law Awards at The Star Sydney tonight to see 34 awards presented to the best firms, in-house teams and deals across Australia and New Zealand.
The evening was hosted by journalist and author Peter Fitzsimons and guests were treated to a surprise performance from The Three Waiters as well as music from popular acoustic band Luke Zanc Trio.
A full list of tonight’s award winners is below:
Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year
Winner: Arrium Group insolvency
Property, Infrastructure and Projects Deal of the Year
Winner: Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and Investa Property Group
Debt Market Deal of the Year
Winner: SMART ABS Series securitisation
Energy & Resources Deal of the Year
Winner: Merger of Queensland electricity distributors to create Energy Queensland
Equity Market Deal of the Year
Winner: VIVA Energy REIT IPO
M&A Deal of the Year
Winner: Acquisition of Asciano by Brookfield and Qube
International Deal of the Year
Winner: ABI acquisition of SABMiller
Corporate Citizen Firm of the Year
Winner: Salvos Legal
JLT Employee Health and Wellbeing Award
Employment Law Specialist Firm of the Year
Winner: Harmers Workplace Lawyers
Highly Commended: Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors
AIG Insurance Specialist Firm of the Year
Australasian Lawyer IP Specialist Firm of the Year
Winner: Bird & Bird
FTI Consulting Boutique Firm of the Year
Winner: Nexus Law Group
Winner: Alex Baykitch
Resolution Institute Mediator of the Year
Winner: Stephen Lancken
Young Private Practice Lawyer of the Year (30 or Under)
Winner: Thomas Dougherty, Clayton Utz
Highly Commended: Holly Sara,
Jones Day & Stipe Vuleta, Chamberlains
Young In-House Lawyer of the Year (30 or Under)
Winner: Louise Young – Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
LOD Banking & Financial Services In-house Team of the Year
Winner: National Australia Bank Group Governance & Legal Team
Sparke Helmore Lawyers Insurance In-house Team of the Year
Winner: AIA Australia
Highly Commended: Chubb
Gilbert + Tobin Investment Bank In-house Team of the Year
Winner: Macquarie Capital Legal Team
Russell McVeagh NZ In-house Team of the Year
Winner: Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited
FTI Consulting Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year
Winner: Claire Bibby, Brookfield
NZ Dealmaker of the Year
Winner: John Strowger, Chapman Tripp
Highly Commended: Silvana Schenone, MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Scarlis Pringle Australian Dealmaker of the Year
NZ Deal Firm of the Year
Winner: Chapman Tripp
Australian Deal Team of the Year
Winner:
Allens - Mergers and Acquisitions
Law Firm Leader of the Year (≤200 employees)
Winner: Sandra Gibson, LOD - Lawyers On Demand
Scarlis Pringle Law Firm Leader of the Year (>200 employees)
Rob Cutler, Clayton Utz
Clayton Utz Australian In-house Team of the Year
Winner: IFM Investors Australian legal team
Australian Deal of the Year
Acquisition of Asciano by Brookfield and Qube
State /Regional Firm of the Year
Harwood Andrews
Australian Law Firm of the Year (1 - 100 Lawyers)
Salvos Legal
GlobalX Australian Law Firm of the Year (101 - 500 Lawyers)
FTI Consulting Law Firm of the Year (>500 employees)
Herbert Smith Freehills
